Riley in Wonderland (or so she calls it)
by KeyWillow19682
Summary: Riley had been eleven when she first saw it. That weird blue box that simply shouldn't be. It had left her feeling slightly displaced. A year later she saw it again. Now she was just curious.
1. Prologue

Riley had been on her way home from school when she first saw it. It didn't really stick out all that much; in fact she wasn't sure what it was about it that made her notice it. But notice it she did, and even though it couldn't possibly be anything special she couldn't help shake the feeling that something was wrong with it. Well, maybe not wrong per say, but off. Yes, that's it, the thing felt off somehow; like it's not supposed to be there or it's supposed to be there but look different. Like a vague sense of déjà vu, except it wasn't vague at all, she could feel it deep in her heart that something was just off.

But what could be so off about it? It was just a telephone box standing in a corner. It wasn't even the first she'd seen. But something was so clearly different about this one. Perhaps it was the color that threw her off, it was blue like the other phone boxes she'd seen but it was such a deep color full blue and not at all matted down like the others. Or perhaps it was the lamp on top, it looked nearly new and not at all broken, like it was viable to start shining any minute now.

Whatever it was, the box was off and Riley felt displaced. She opted to ignore it and keep walking like nothing had happened (which really, nothing had) and hurried home suddenly feeling a bit scared. When she walked the same path the morning after the box was gone and she thought that maybe, just maybe, she had imagined it.

A year later she saw it again.

She knew it was the same one, because that feeling of misplacement had not changed. Even after a year she could still remember that feeling; that wrongness.

It was just standing there, looking all innocent, and it had moved from where it was standing before. It was now standing just outside her door, parked in the square right in the middle of the Powel Estate. Riley had been living in the Powel Estate since she was a kid, just her and her aunt. It had never felt like a special place or anything but suddenly she was afraid. Why was it there?

It gave of the same feeling it had before. It just wasn't natural! Blue telephone boxes were not supposed to feel wrong! They weren't supposed to feel anything. They were boxes, nothing more, so how can this one feel so off.

Unless…

Riley knew she was running late, school started ten minutes ago, but she couldn't help it. Even though every fiber in her body screamed at her to turn around, away from the box, she walked closer. It was like one of those wet paint signs, it says to not touch and suddenly she couldn't help but wanting nothing else.

She was sneaking forward, feeling a bit silly (who sneaks up on an immovable object?) but determined. She had to know, she just had to!

She was standing right in front of it now, the door handle just inches away from her, and she felt excited. Terrified but excited. In her short life of twelve years never had she felt this much excitement.

She reached out her hand and grazed the wood. It might just have been her imagination but it felt tingly, warm. Wood is not supposed to feel warm, not unless it's on fire. Her hand came at a stop at the handle, grasping it loosely but not pulling at it. Standing there, just about to open the strange blue box, Riley suddenly felt a bit out of bounds. Was it rude, just opening it without warning? Was she supposed to knock? It felt like she was supposed to knock, but it was a box! Not a house. It's not like anyone lived in there. Did they?

Deciding to bring out her courage, however small an amount (she was twelve and lived in London, she knew the scary stories about strangers and all that and they scared her when the sun went down), she yanked on the door. It was slow, like it didn't want to open for her (maybe it was locked) but in the end the door swung open.

If she had known any swearwords she'd have used them. As it was, all she could do was stand there and gape.

"A rabbit hole." She whispered in awe and slowly walked inside; disregarding any ill feelings she might have had before.


	2. Chapter 1

Sexy watched, or rather felt (but who's picky), as the man child stepped inside her console room. It was a youngling if she ever saw one, female, dressed in a dark blue and white school uniform with a moss green beanie on her head, suppressing her rather impressive black curls.

She knew that this was probably a bad idea, but her thief had been taking in strays for as long as he'd been driving her and quite frankly she'd wanted to try it herself. The fact that the youngling had seen her blue doors and decided to walk through them on her own spoke miles. Most people tended to overlook Sexy as she stood unassuming in street corners or alleys and simply walked by without so much as casting a second (if even a first) glance her way. But this child had seen her, remembered her even after a year, and had been curious.

Yes, she decided, this would be fun.

* * *

Riley timidly walked through the doors and closed them silently behind her. She should not be in here. But how could she resist? It truly was a rabbit hole; a box that was bigger on the inside and what objects that filled its space!

They had read Alice in Wonderland in school the year before and Riley had decided that it was her new favorite book filled with wonders and madness, who would be crazy enough not to like it? And now she had found her very own rabbit hole, right in her backyard.

The room looked like some sort of cabin, the center had all these controls and buttons that looked very complicated, and she could see a door at the far end. More space! How big was this place? And why does it look like a telephone box?

Riley stepped closer to the control thing at the center, all the time looking around her trying to take everything in at once. When she was right in front of the control console she suddenly stopped, having realized something. This box, this… bigger on the inside magical box, obviously belonged to someone. Most things tended to belong to people, even when you thought that they didn't. And this box had moved once, she'd seen it (or at least, seen where it was before and after it moved), clearly that meant that someone had to move it. That person must be the owner of this wonderland. But where were they?

"Hello?" She called out, not aiming at anything in particular. "Anyone there?"

Well that sounded a bit cliché, even to her and she was twelve. But still nobody answered.

"I didn't mean to trespass or anything but… well, you left the doors open, you know!" She called out again; on the off chance that whoever it was that owned the box didn't hear her the first time.

Still no answer. "Maybe they're out?" She wondered out loud.

Suddenly something close gave out a metallic whine, making her jump. She looked around, startled, but found no one. Maybe this place was old? Like grandmothers old wooden cabin up north, that creaks and knocks even though there is nobody there?

"Hello?" Riley was ashamed to admit that there was a slight tremble in her voice. The noise, whatever it was, came again. But this time it sounded further away, down the room and through the door at the far end.

Pulling herself together Riley decided to let herself be governed by her curiosity and slowly walked towards the sound. Hiking her Pocahontas backpack up her shoulders a bit she passed through the door and came face to face to a long corridor. The corridor had several different looking doors and passage ways on the sides and seemed to go on forever. The sound came back, further down the corridor and Riley took a deep breath before walking towards it and away from the entrance.

It took her ten minutes of only walking before she finally found the place where the sound was coming from. Or at least, she assumed so, because when she walked through the last passage way she came into a library and there was someone in there waiting for her.

Riley simply stared. She was scared but beyond that she was curious and wanted some answers. Most prominently about her mirror image clone standing across her.

"Well." Said the clone and Riley started. Was that how her voice sounded to others? How weird. "That took forever, didn't it?"

"Who are you?" Riley asked hurriedly and looked backwards, in case she needed to make a quick escape. "Where am I?"

"TARDIS." Was all the answer she got.

"What?" Confusion was a good emotion to describe how she was feeling right about now.

"The answer to both of your questions, youngling." The Riley look-alike said.

"Right, is that supposed to mean something because quite frankly…?"

"Time And Relative Dimension In Space. In short; TARDIS." She was smiling now, but not a Riley-smile but rather that of a parents' smile when they were patiently explaining something to their child. "It's my name, youngling."

"That's a weird name, no offense or anything. And mine is Riley, not youngling." The girl had introduced herself, it was only polite that she do the same. "Why do you look like me?"

"I don't." She said and Riley started as the girl flickered, like her TV sometimes did when the signal was bad. "I am simply using this image of you to communicate."

"To what?" That was a long word.

"Communicate, it means to talk to you. I figured you'd be less scared like this."

"Well, that's nice of you?" Really, how are you supposed to answer to something like that?

"I know." Was she smug? Yes, she was.

"No wait! When I asked where I was you said TARDIS was the answer. But then you said that it was your name. This place is named after you?"

"No, not really." TARDIS was smiling now again. "This place is me, I am it."

"Huh?"

"This room, the corridor outside, the console room you entered through, all the rooms and corridors you haven't yet seen, all of it is me. You are in the TARDIS and the TARDIS is me."

Riley stood quietly for a while, trying to figure out exactly what she'd said. It had been a lot of words and they all seemed to say the same thing but then not.

"So… you are saying that, what? This place is alive? And that it's you? That you are this place?" Did that make sense? It didn't feel like it.

"Yes." Apparently it did make sense.

"Right. You are a place but also a person, but not really."

"You're getting it!" The girl, thing, said cheerily.

"I don't really think I'm getting anything."

"Well, you will, eventually." There was that parent smile again.

Riley shook her head, deciding to leave the complicated stuff for when it wasn't as important; like when she was in bed trying to sleep.

"So, why am I here?"

"Because you saw me. Most people don't see me, not what I am, but you did. I let you inside because you are different."

"Different how?"

"Just different." Doesn't it hurt to smile all the time? Does she never run out of energy because she is not a person but a place? There it got complicated again.

"Okay, what now?" Maybe she should just skip school altogether today, she'd never make it in time for lunch anyway.

"Well, I am very big you know. Do you want to explore?" TARDIS threw open her arms as if to indicate how big she was.

"For how long?" School was one thing, but if she didn't show up in time for dinner her aunt would yell at her. She'd had a glimpse of how big this place (person?) was and was sure it would take forever to explore all of it.

"However long you want to. You are free to leave, I'm not a bad person if that's what you're thinking. I just wanted some company for a while. My thief is gone with that blonde stray and I was bored."

"Your thief?" You can own a thief?

"Yes, he's stolen me but that's okay, I let him after all. We travel together but sometimes he picks up strays and I get lonely." She seemed a bit sad and Riley though that whoever this thief was (does that make him the owner?) he was rude. He'd stolen TARDIS after all, it's only common sense to keep her happy.

"All right, I get it. You just want a friend, is that it? You should have started with that you know. I'll be more than happy to be your friend, as long as I get home in time for dinner."

TARDIS looked up at her surprised. A friend? Really? Well, maybe she'd been a bit lonelier than she thought lately. Fine, let her thief keep his strays and she can get her very first friend.

"Where do you want to start?" TARDIS smiled widely at her new friend.

"We'll start with your name." Riley said resolutely. "It's a bit of a mouthful, do you have a shorter one?"

"TARDIS is the short version."

"Yes but… perhaps another one?"

"…my thief calls me Sexy sometimes."

"Sexy? That's even stranger than TARDIS. You know, I think I've heard that before. It's what my aunt's boyfriend Jared called her when they thought I was asleep." Riley mused. "Still, I guess it is better than TARDIS. All right Sexy, let's explore you!"


	3. Chapter 2

Riley had been right; it would take forever to explore Sexy. It seemed that whenever they made a turn a whole new corridor showed up, equally as big as the first had been. Sexy didn't help either, she simply trailed after Riley commenting on the doors and telling her more about herself.

Apparently Sexy was some kind of machine that was somehow alive. The image of Riley she was using was only temporary and sometimes it would flicker and sputter for a short while when they made new turns or walked down some stairs. Riley wasn't overly worried though, even if the image disappeared Sexy's voice still lingered and simply wouldn't shut up. Though secretly Riley was glad about this because Sexy's body (corridors and all) was so big and if she didn't have some company she would lose her nerve.

Sexy showed her the wardrobe (or one of them, she'd said there were more) and it was huge. They had some fun pointing out different outfits and Sexy would explain some of them to her, though not all. Apparently her thief have had a habit of taking of taking in strays (which really was only Sexy's word for her thief's companions throughout the years) for a very long time and some of the things they got up to were hilarious and terrifying at once.

After the wardrobe she was taken to the observatory which had a big telescope, the kind that you lie in, and the ceiling could be programmed to show different parts of space for you to look at. After that she was shown the attic (which really, how can a box have an attic?) were all kinds of dusty things were hidden away.

They looked into dozens of rooms and explored for hours, Riley's dinner curfew completely forgotten, and when they got hungry (Riley, that is, Sexy doesn't eat after all) Sexy took her to the kitchen.

"The loon hasn't gone shopping in ages but I'm sure there is something edible in here somewhere." Sexy said and gestured to the cabinets.

"Oh, graduated from thief to loon now has he?" Riley asked jokingly and started to rifle through the cabinets she could reach.

"It's a demotion."

"Whatever that means." She mumbled and pulled out a conserve of fruit salad. "Hah, here we go."

"Good job, youngling!" If her hands were real Sexy would have clapped.

"Riley! Not youngling. I am not a kid; I'll have you know I'm twelve years old." She said proudly as she started digging for the conserve opener.

"Drawer furthest to the left. And you are too a youngling, at least for me. I'm ancient, you're… new."

"Thanks. Twelve is a proud age, you know. Don't ruin it."

It was as she sat down to eat that she felt it, the whole place shook. It wasn't shaking much but enough to be noticed.

"Oh, seems my thief is back." Sexy said and promptly dissolved.

"What? Wait! What am I supposed to do?" But she got no answer.

Sighing she took her can of fruit salad and her fork and started to make her way toward he console room, as Sexy had called it. It was actually easier to navigate now than it was before and she suspected that maybe Sexy was helping her along, she'd mentioned that she could move things around with no bother.

When she came up to the console room she stopped just before stepping in to it. Drawing on her hide-and-seek skills she leaned forward and glanced out the door. The thief, he could be nothing else, was a sight to be seen. He was tall, taller than her aunt, and wearing all black. His ears and nose were pretty big, but not as big as janitor Collins' at her school, and he was jumping and running around the controls like a lunatic. He looked slightly intimidating, but then most grown-ups do.

Sexy gave another shake and then quieted down and the man/thief smiled triumphantly. Then he turned around and saw Riley.

Riley had never seen a person's eyes grow that round before, and he looked like he was about to drop his jaw. Nervously she stepped out of the door way and gave a small wave with the hand that wasn't holding the can and fork.

"Hi."

"What? But…? How? Who? Huh?" He looked really confused and Riley had to fight really hard to stop from laughing.

"The door was open." She said.

"No it wasn't. You just walked right in?" He turned to look at the doors, like it was their fault, and then swirled back to her. It looked like he was having a hard time deciding what to say next, his mouth opened and closed several times.

"Sort off." She answered.

"Who are you?" He seemed to have settled on an approach.

"Riley. Se… I mean, TARDIS invited me." Should probably use her proper name in contact with others, it only seemed polite.

"Invited you?" He seemed to have gone back to confused again.

"Yes, she said that she gets lonely and I was curious so… we, I mean I, have been exploring. Your library is really big, bigger than the one at school. Do you really read all those books?"

"Lonely? Exploring?" He really was starting to look a bit like a goldfish, the way his mouth kept opening and closing.

"Uh huh, I was late for school anyway." In retrospect that probably didn't explain all that much, but the man was so confused anyway so it probably didn't matter.

"Right." He cleared his throat. "Well then, Riley. Do you want to come look at an alien with me?"

"An alien?" Apparently confusion was a going thing.

"Yeah, or you can just stay here until I go back to Powel Estate." The Doctor realized that this was probably the better option, the girl couldn't have been more than thirteen and…

"Oh, we've moved? She said that she could. Aliens, huh? It sounds like fun!" She skipped up to him, tin can still in hand, and smiled widely.

Well, the Doctor thought, she's not really all that different from Rose. Just a smaller version is all. Couldn't hurt. He would have to figure out how to deal with her later; right now he had an alien to look at. He took the girl's hand and led her toward the door.

"What was your name again?" He asked as they walked out the doors only to find themselves in a cupboard.

"Riley and your name…?" She couldn't very well call him Thief now could she? There had to be something else.

"I'm the Doctor." He answered and started digging around his pockets.

"Isn't that more of a title than a name?" She asked confused.

"It's all I got." He simply answered and then let out a small sound of triumph as he produced a silvery thing with something blue at the end from his pockets.

"That's sad." Riley said.

The Doctor started and turned to look at her. No one ever said that about his name (one of them; so he may have lied a bit about it being the only thing he's got but the other still hurt and she was just a kid anyway). They all wondered, of course, but no one ever said it was sad. Was it sad? He didn't know. He cleared his throat slightly and turned to the door again.

"Not really." Was all he said and pointed the silvery stick at the lock.

He must have pressed a button or something because the thing started buzzing and Riley gave a small jump. The Doctor stops doing whatever he was doing and put his finger at his lips.

"Shush!" He hissed at the stick making Riley giggle. He gave a smile and buzzed the stick again.

Suddenly the locks clicked and Riley realized that whatever he was doing the Doctor had somehow managed to unlock the door. She looked at the stick a bit more closely; was it magic like Sexy? Were the stick and the box somehow the same only one infinitely smaller than the other? Before she could ask the Doctor opened the door and dragged her out with him.

As soon as they were outside he stopped and Riley soon realized why. The room they had walked out into were filled with soldier-type looking people, all decked out in uniforms and red caps. There was a small moment of silence as the soldiers stared at the newcomers in shock before they all rose and aimed their weapons at them. As soon as the guns were pointed the Doctor pulled Riley behind him; he didn't really think they would shoot, what with there being a minor in the room and all, but an alien ship had just crash landed in their city and everyone was on edge. He gave them a big smile and was just about to say something when they all heard a woman scream.

Riley jolted at the scream, silently wishing that she had stayed in Sexy but not really (an adventure was an adventure even though it was scary), and peeked out from behind the Doctor's back. The Doctor clapped his hands together.

"Defence plan delta! Come on. Move! Move!" He shouted and the soldier rushed into action.

As they ran toward the scream the Doctor made sure to keep a hold of Riley's hand the entire time. Maybe taking her along hadn't been such a good idea? Oh well, no use in crying over spilt milk! She was here and he would make sure to keep her safe.

Riley follows along, or rather is dragged, as they run through a corridor and nearly lose her balance as the Doctor suddenly takes a turn and bursts into a room. The room is dark and it looks like the same kind of room that her parents were in after they had their accident and stopped being alive. Mortuary her aunt had called it. Riley had only been six but certain things you simply can't forget.

There was some movement to her left and she crouched down with the Doctor to look at a frightened woman who was sitting on the floor. Riley realized it must have been her who screamed.

"It's alive!" She breathed in a scared voice. The Doctor turned toward the soldiers who followed them inside.

"Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lockdown." He ordered but they weren't moving.

"My God. It's alive!" The woman said again, as if she'd only just now realized this.

"Do it!" The Doctor yelled at the soldier and this time they obeyed.

Riley turned back to the woman who had finally stopped shaking. So they thought this alien-person was dead but in reality it was alive? Isn't that something to be happy about? Surely an alive alien was better than a dead one? Most things are better when they are alive, except for big spiders. Those were never good unless they were dead and as far away from Riley as possible and even then it was a stretch.

"I swear it was dead." She spoke up again, drawing the Doctor's attention back to her.

"Maybe it was just asleep?" Riley suggested and the woman gave a start seemingly first now realizing that there was a child in the room.

"Coma, shock, hibernation, anything." The Doctor nodded. "What does it look like?"

The woman was about to answer when they suddenly heard metal clattering in the background. The Doctor released Riley's hand for the first time since first grabbing on to it and swirled around.

"It's still here." He whispered. He began standing up and motioned to a soldier that was still outside the door to come in. The soldier kneels by Riley and the woman and takes aim toward the sound as the doctor slowly creeps forward.

Riley watch slightly afraid but also delighted (a real alien!) and when the Doctor reaches around the cabinet she holds her breath. She sees as he pauses and then start to reach forward and Riley herself starts getting up to get a closer look.

"Hello." The Doctor says and Riley can't help but smile. He sounds delighted and surprised. But before she can get closer to look there is a noise and the alien suddenly runs away from the Doctor.

Is that a pig? Riley stares bewildered as the creature runs past her on its hind legs and she can hear the Doctor shouting not to shoot but she is not paying attention. A pig in a space suit?

There is a loud bang and Riley is shook from her thoughts. She turns to find the Doctor and the pig gone and follows them out into the corridor. The scene that meets her is one she'll always remember. The pig is laying on the floor, the Doctor by its side and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened. The soldier who shot the poor creature seems confused and Riley can't help but feel a bit angry at him. Who shoots a pig unless he plans to eat it?

"It was scared." The Doctor says in a sad tone and leans down over the pig. It was almost heartbreaking.

The woman from before comes out of her mortuary and places a hand on Riley's shoulder. She is staring at the scene in front of her looking shocked and confused.

"It was scared."


	4. Chapter 3

Riley is back in the mortuary, standing alongside the Doctor and the woman from earlier. The pig is lying on a table in front of them and all three are looking down at it. Riley can't help but feel morose, like she was at a funeral, which was strange because it was a pig! She eats pork and bacon like the next person, even though her teacher tries to preach the goodness of vegetarianism, and those are from pigs. But there was just something very sad about this whole affair, something clearly beyond reason.

"I just assumed that's what aliens look like, but you're saying it's an ordinary pig from Earth." The woman was saying. Riley had yet to learn her name but she felt like it wasn't so important right now; maybe later.

The Doctor had been explaining for the past five minutes how this pig wasn't an alien at all but rather just an ordinary pig. Riley had been listening with half an ear but her focus was on the creature on the table and not the conversation.

"More like a mermaid. Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat, gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened up its brain, stuck bits on, then they've strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke." The Doctor said hotly.

Riley looked up at his face and saw a cold fury there. Something that should have been scary had she not agreed with his sentiments. She reached out and took his hand; normally if a person was upset she would have hugged them but she barely knew the man and he didn't really seem like the hugging-type so a single hand would have to do. The Doctor grabbed a hold of her hand as well, nearly swallowing hers up completely with his larger appendage, and squeezed. The woman started saying something again but the Doctor led her silently out of the room without the other noticing. They walked in silence toward the cupboard where Sexy was parked although Riley noted a certain edge to her companions stride; he was walking like a man with a goal.

* * *

Once back inside Sexy he positioned himself by the console but didn't actually start pressing buttons or pulling leavers. Riley stood at his side and was thinking about her day so far and that poor pig.

"Do you think it had a name?" She asked.

The Doctor jolted into awareness at the girls question though it took some ten seconds before the question actually translated into a meaning in his mind.

"A name?" He asked incredulously. What kind of question was that? Was it even important?

"Yes, a name." Riley confirmed resolutely. "I mean, I know it was a pig and all but... all creatures have names. Even the ones that you don't think about."

Of course, he realized, she is a child. A question like that would make sense to a child and it would definitely be important. He suddenly remembered how long ago it was that he last dealt with children.

"I suppose you're right." He admitted, after all such a mindset that all things are important (even the name of a single pig) is precious and could only be found in a child. It was something that he would not take away from her.

"I wish we knew it." She sighed. "That poor pig."

The Doctor looked at her a little uneasily, hoping that she wouldn't start crying. But the girl, Riley, surprised him when her face switched from sad to determined and even a bit angry.

"The people who did this to that poor innocent pig." She started and turned toward him. "You'll catch them, right?"

It wasn't really a question, the Doctor realized with slight humour, the girl was ordering him. The console heated up under his hands and he felt, for the first time in a long while, the presence of his ship in his mind.

_You better._

Well, isn't that a new development? The TARDIS must really have taken a liking to this human child if she was already exhibiting possessive traits about her. The Doctor suddenly realized that he'd be seeing quite a lot of Riley in the future, weather he wanted to or not, if this was any indication.

"I'll do my best." He said, answering both of them.

Riley hung on to the railing as the Doctor flew Sexy back to Powel Estate. The man had owned Sexy for some time, she had been told, but he clearly had yet to master the art of flying her. Wasn't there some kind of license for driving a machine like Sexy, like there was for cars? Judging by the Doctors driving there definitely should be.

They had only been landed for half a minute when the front doors opened and Riley watched as Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith jogged up to the console. Well, how about that! The Tyler daughter had returned! It only took her a year. Riley remembered reading the posters that Mrs. Tyler put up all over the estate and her aunt talking to her explaining again the rules about strangers and candy, even though she had already had that talk years before. Rose Tyler's disappearance had been hot gossip for nearly a year in the neighborhood and everybody knew the story. Riley suddenly realized that Rose must have been with the Doctor for that entire time; Sexy had mentioned that the latest stray was blonde and the first time Riley had seen the box was around the time when Rose disappeared.

"All right, so I lied. I went and had a look. But the whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben. Come on, so I thought let's go and have a look." The Doctor started talking but Rose interrupted.

"My mum's here."

Riley turned around again and sure enough, Jackie Tyler was standing right at the landing and staring around wide eyed.

"Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic."

"Hi Mrs. Tyler." She waved cheerily. Riley wasn't really the kind of person to find fun in other people's freak-outs but sometimes the moments just too good.

But it wasn't the elder Tyler who reacted to her presence; it was the younger.

"What's she doing here?" Rose asked the Doctor sounding both shocked and accusing.

"Long story." Was all the Doctor said and turned back to his scanner. Long and complicated, he wasn't sure if he even knew exactly why the girl was there yet.

"You ruined my life, Doctor. They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you." Mickey spoke up for the first time.

"You see what I mean? Domestic." He turned to half-glare at the blonde.

"I bet you don't even remember my name." Mickey continued goading him.

Riley watched amused as the Doctor argued that he too remembered the boy's name and that it was Ricky. Mrs. Tyler looked more frightened by the second and Rose was starting to look a cross between amused and exasperated. It sure was lively in here. How Sexy could get bored was beyond her? But then again, none of the participants in the room were addressing the ship. Being ignored could get boring, she supposed.

She watched as Mrs. Tyler finally broke and ran out, thoroughly freaked, and saw Rose run after her before shortly returning. Riley decided that rather than observing she would have more fun if she interacted with them and as such walked up to the console and positioned herself next to Mickey.

"That was a real spaceship." Rose said next to the Doctor.

"Yep." He answered.

"So it's all a pack of lies? What is it, then? Are they invading?" She continued remembered what he'd said when they entered.

"Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." Mickey pointed out next to Riley and she rather thought he'd made a good observation.

"Good point! So, what're they up to?" The Doctor complimented him reluctantly.

"Unless they want us all panicking." Riley added quietly. The Doctor turned to her and gave her a thoughtful look.

"Hm." Was all he came up with before starting to kneel down and remove part of the grating from the floor.

* * *

Riley was standing to the side again, watching the Doctor work on the floor (or rather, beneath it) as he fiddled with wires and the like. Rose stood to her left, the blonde had thrown her a few looks in the past five minutes but had not made an attempt to talk to her, and Mickey was standing over the Doctor.

"So, what're you doing down there?" He asked and leaned down further to see.

"Rickey." The Doctor started and Riley giggled. She knew he was doing it on purpose and it was kind of rude but all the same; it was funny.

"Mickey." Mickey corrected.

"Ricky." The Doctor persisted. "If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?"

That was a good point. And Sexy was magnificent, not just her body but her personality too. Did she feel it when the Doctor was working on her wires? That was a weird thought.

"I suppose not." Mickey had to admit.

"Well, shut it, then."

Mickey gave up and walked over to Rose, the two of them starting a conversation and Riley suddenly felt like she was imposing. Those two had been going out together when Rose disappeared and even though she still wasn't to clear on the details of the blonde's return she knew that they probably wanted some space. So she walked over to the Doctor and took up a stance where Mickey had just been.

"That was a bit rude of you." She said, not really scolding him but just pointing it out.

"Stupid questions get stupid answers." He answered.

"It wasn't a stupid question, though." Really, it wasn't. Though Mickey probably wouldn't have understood the explanation it was only natural that he be curious and the Doctor could have levelled it down a bit so that he would understand.

The Doctor said nothing to this but just continued working. Riley sighed having recognized the sign of stubbornness and decided it just wasn't worth it. Rather she backed off a bit and stood the side so that she could still see the Doctor but not close enough to talk to him. She leaned at the railing and sighed softly.

Maybe it was time for her to go home? She was already way past being late for dinner and she was sure her aunt would have started to worry now. She was just about to announce that she was going home when the Doctor gave out a triumphant yell.

"Got it! Ha ha! Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship." He explained quickly and they all stepped closer to see. "Here we go. Hold on. Come on."

The screen turned blue and a simple picture of Earth showed up. There was a line coming into Earth's atmosphere that Riley assumed was the ship. The Doctor pointed at it.

"That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see? Except. Hold on." The screen flickered and he hit it impatiently. "See? The spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed."

Riley didn't really see anything but it seemed to make sense to the Doctor. She supposed it was because he was clever or maybe it had to do with his status of being an alien. Sexy had said her thief wasn't from Earth, well more like mentioned it in passing while they were exploring, and that meant he must be alien right? Maybe aliens know stuff about other aliens by pure principle?

"What does that mean?" Rose asked and Riley tried to pay more attention, she might actually learn from this. And besides, she had a feeling that the Doctor had already forgotten about the pig in a space suit but Riley certainly hadn't. She was going to make them pay for that poor creature's suffering and if the Doctor didn't then she would just have to it herself.

"It means it came from Earth in the first place. It went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived, they've been here for a while. The question is, what have they been doing?" The Doctor answered.

Riley stilled, thinking about the new information. These alien people had been here for a while? Why? What did Earth have to offer for people that had already mastered space travel?

The Doctor started going through channels on his screen, apparently it was both a computer screen and a television, and Mickey stepped closer.

"How many channels do you get?" He asked and Riley nearly laughed, aliens on Earth and he was asking about the television? Was that even important?

"All the basic packages." The Doctor answered distractedly.

"You get sports channels?" Really, Riley thought, sport? Men can be so one-track minded sometimes, at least that's what her aunt used to say.

"Yes, I get the football." The Doctor sighed but then perked up a bit. The channel he was currently on showed a bunch of people marching down a hallway wearing official looking uniforms. "Hold on, I know that lot."

It appeared to be a news story and a reporter was speaking off screen. "It is looking likely that the Government's bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space."

"United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people." The Doctor explained to Mickey and Rose while Riley was focusing on the screen. These people had devoted their lives to this kind of thing? That was impressive... and slightly sad.

"How do you know them?" Rose asked intrigued.

"'Cos he's worked for them." Mickey began before the Doctor had a chance to tell her. "Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead."

"Well that's dramatic," Riley muttered. "A list of the dead? What, did you take drama in high school?"

"That's nice. Good boy, Ricky." The Doctor seemed to agree with her though he looked somewhat irritated and troubled at the same time.

"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" Rose tried getting them back on track.

"They wouldn't recognise me. I've changed a lot since the old days." He said evasively. "Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover. And er, I'd better keep the TARDIS out of sight. Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving."

"Where to?" Mickey asked, already giving up on correcting the man about his name.

"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship." The Doctor said excitedly and started walking toward the door before he stopped and turned to Riley.

"You coming as well?" He asked, not entirely sure he wanted her to. When he had seen Riley and Rose standing next to each other he had realized how young the girl really was. It hadn't occurred to him before but there was a stark contrast between the two girls in age even though it couldn't have been more than five or six years. But at the same time the girl intrigued him. The TARDIS had taken a liking to her and that above anything made her special.

"I suppose." Riley answered slowly, thinking that she was already in trouble with her aunt so some more couldn't hurt all too much.

"Are you sure?" Rose asked the Doctor. "I mean, I don't know what she's doing here but it could get dangerous."

"Well, she's already involved. Might as well see it through to the end." He said looking at the girl in question.

Riley nodded her head and smiled. She wanted to know what these alien people were doing on Earth and she had a pig to avenge.

"There you go!" The Doctor exclaimed and clapped his hands together.

All four of them walked toward the door and out on the pavement only to get blinded by bright helicopter lights and assaulted by the yells from over a dozen police officers in action gear.

"Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads."

Riley looks around startled and slightly scared. She feel the Doctor's arm on her shoulders pulling her closer to him, as if trying to protect her, and she sees Mickey run off. She looks over at Rose who seems just as startled as herself. Suddenly Jackie Tyler comes out of the apartment complex running toward them.

"Rose!" She yells panicked but is held back by more police officers.

"Raise your hands above your head. You are under arrest." The man in the helicopter shouts down through the megaphone.

All three of them raise their hands and Riley sees her aunt coming out of the complex next to Jackie.

"Riley?" She calls bewildered. "No! Riley"

She tries to get to her but like Jackie she is held back. The two women stand next to each other looking scared but determined over at their girls.

"Take me to your leader!" The Doctor shouts out with a mad grin on his face.

"Are you serious?" Rose asks exasperated but also smiling, having realized that if the Doctor wasn't worried then maybe things were okay.

"Brilliant." Riley laughed and the other two turned to her. "What? Oh come on, it is! I wished I had thought of that."

The Doctor's grin grew wider and Rose starts to giggle.

"Well then." She says after her giggle fit died down and they are being led to a police car. "This promises to be interesting."

"Oh yes." The Doctor agrees. "I can't wait."


	5. Chapter 4

"This is a bit posh." Rose said as they seated themselves in the car. "If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago."

Riley had to agree with the blonde; it was very comfortable. They hadn't even been clasped in handcuffs or anything. She wasn't entirely sure why they were taken by the police and she could already hear the lecture her aunt would preach when she got back home, but all the same; it was 'posh'.

"We're not being arrested, we're being escorted." The Doctor corrected her.

"Escorted at gun point?" Riley asked confused. "What's wrong with asking nicely?"

"Well, I expect them all to be rather high strung. Spaceship in the Thames and all that." The Doctor mused.

"Escorted where?" Rose asked.

"Where'd you think? Downing Street." He answered.

"For real?" Riley couldn't believe it.

"You're kidding!" Apparently neither could Rose.

"I'm not." The Doctor answered amused as he looked between his back seat companions.

"Downing Street?"

"That's the one." He grinned.

"Oh, my God. I'm going to 10 Downing Street? How come?" Rose said in excitement.

"Yeah, why are they taking us there? Why us?" Riley asked although she did have a slight idea. Most likely it was because of the Doctor and she and Rose was just along for the ride.

"I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, er, noticed." The Doctor explained hurriedly as if slightly embarrassed.

"Not exactly stealthy, TARDIS is she?" Riley agreed. "And you're not really either."

"So you've been noticed and now they need you?" Rose mused while nodding her head.

"Like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?" He asked proudly, clearly with an answer already in mind.

"Patrick Moore?" Rose asked jokingly, just to get a chance to deflate him a bit.

"Apart from him." The Doctor clarified annoyed and Riley giggled.

"Oh, don't you just love it." Rose egged him on while laughing and the Doctor joined her.

"I'm telling you. Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?" He asked with a tone of nostalgia.

"How should I know? I missed a year." Rose said and the both of them turned to Riley.

"Don't look at me!" She said. "I'm only twelve! And my aunt Sarah tells me never to get involved in politics."

"Alright then." The doctor smiled and waved aside. "Sounds wise to me, that aunt of yours. Very messy, politics."

The car pulled to a stop outside Downing Street and even from within the car Riley could tell the place was crowded with people, both inside and out. The three of them got out and they were nearly blinded by camera flashes and people calling out asking who they were and what was going on. The doctor posed for the cameras but Riley made sure to stick by Rose and face the other way.

"Oh my God." The Blonde was muttering in awe at the sight of Ten Downing Street.

"I can't believe we're here." Riley agreed.

Rose looked down at the other girl and was struck by how small she seemed. Twelve she had said. She remembered having seen the girl around the estate, playing with her friends and heading to and from school, but she had never really talked to her. Her aunt, Sarah Petrie, was a good friend of her mum's and Sarah's old boyfriend had helped them throw out their old couch three years ago... well, four years ago, but the girl herself had never really been around at those times. She wasn't sure what Riley was doing in the TARDIS or why the Doctor thought it a good idea to bring her along but Rose would make sure that no harm came to her. Twelve years old.

"Me neither." Rose said and Riley looked up at her.

"This last year, when you were gone, you were with him. Weren't you?" She asked.

"Yes, although it's only been a few days for me." Rose answered, wondering where this was going. The Doctor was making his way around the car toward them but was stopped by more reporters yelling questions at him, which he didn't answer.

"Right, time machine." Riley nodded contemplative. "All the same, I'm glad you're back. Mrs Tyler has been a right mess, all worried."

"I know, I didn't mean..." Rose began saying guiltily, not even realizing she was trying to explain herself to a twelve year old.

"It doesn't matter what you meant." Riley interrupted resolutely. "All that matter is that you're here now and even if you leave again it means that at least this time she'll have an idea of where you are. I think that was the worst bit, not knowing."

"Yes." Was all Rose could say before the Doctor reached them and all three went on inside.

* * *

Riley had been right, the place was filled with people. There were soldiers, people in business suits, official looking general type people… all in all there was just a lot of people and Riley felt slightly out of place. She made sure to stick by Rose as they walked further into the building. They ended up in a waiting room of some sort.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene? Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times." A young man called out in front of the room, gathering their attention.

He walked over to where the Doctor was standing with another of those ID cards in his hand which he handed to the Doctor.

"Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companions doesn't have clearance." He nodded over to Riley and Rose, pausing slightly at Riley wondering what a child was doing in Downing Street before shaking it off.

"I don't go anywhere without them" The Doctor protested.

"That's alright." Riley interrupted. "I don't think I'm welcome anyway, being only twelve and all."

The man nodded. "You're the code nine, not them. I'm sorry, Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? They'll have to stay outside."

"They're staying with me." The Doctor countered firmly with an edge in his voice.

"Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's a fact." The man sighed, those were the rules.

"It's all right." Rose spoke up. "You go."

Riley nodded thinking that even though the Doctor clearly had a stubborn streak this was the government; sometimes it's just better to fold, or at least make them think that you are. Downing Street, eh? She wondered if it would be considered trespassing to snoop around a bit. They had invited her in after all, albeit at gunpoint but all the same.

A woman approached the quartet from behind the man arguing with the Doctor. Riley would have to ask his name soon, it was only polite.

"Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?" She asked.

"Sure." The Doctor answered Rose, not even paying attention to the woman.

"Not now." The man sighed, clearly annoyed. "We're busy. Can't you go home?"

"I just need a word in private." The woman persisted.

"I suppose so. Don't get in any trouble" The Doctor continued talking with Rose before turning to Riley, not even looking over at the other woman who was arguing with the man. "You stay with Rose, yeah."

"Promise." Riley answered only half paying attention.

The Doctor left and Rose turned to Riley but before she could speak up the man burst out at the woman.

"You haven't got clearance. Now leave it." He started to sound really annoyed now and Riley wondered if they'd have a similar argument earlier during the day. They seemed to know each other previously anyway. He turned to Rose and Riley. "I'm going to have to leave you both with security."

"It's all right. I'll look after them. Let me be of some use." The woman spoke up again and before the man had a chance to argue she took a hold of Rose by her arm and started walking away, Riley following.

"Walk with me. Just keep walking. That's right. Don't look round." The woman was muttering as she led them away in a slight hurry. She flashed a card at them. "Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North."

She led them into the entrance hallway, where they had entered from outside before, and paused by the stairwell. Rose looked somewhat confused but Riley had a feeling that this Harriet Jones had something important to say; why else would she be looking for the Doctor? And there was something in her eyes that suggested she might be scared.

"This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?" She asked and Rose was immediately on guard.

"Why do you want to know?"

When Harriet started crying Riley knew she'd been right. She also realized that they'd probably end up in trouble over it, at some point. Hopefully the Doctor wouldn't be too annoyed. She watched as Rose tried to comfort the older woman but stood off a bit to the side. Rose Tyler was a compassionate person and Riley wasn't, at least not in the same way. But after a while of watching she walked over in long strides and stood in front of Harriet.

"Show us." Was all she said but the woman understood.

Harriet led them up the stairs and through another corridor and into an office that led into what Riley assumed was a cabinet room. She was sure they weren't supposed to be here but she didn't care. This counted as snooping, right?

The older woman went on to explain what she had seen. Riley listened fascinated to her tale of aliens in body suits of humans who were taking over the government. Was stuff like that even real? Sounded like some sort of novel to her, but the fear in Harriet's eyes was real.

"They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!" She cried distressed as she showed them the skin suit that the aliens had discarded.

"That's disgusting." Riley said with a face. "That is really, really... ugh!"

"It's all right. I believe you." Rose tried to reassure the woman. "It's... it's alien. They must have some serious technology behind this. If we could find it, we could use it."

She started to search the room; looking into cabinets and behind doors. Riley was just contemplating about whether to help her or not when Rose came to stop in front a large cabinet. She opened it and promptly gave out a shriek and jumped away. Riley didn't blame her.

There was a body in the cabinet. An actual human dead body. It fell out through the open door and onto the floor with a small crack.

"Oh, my God!" Rose cried afraid. "Is that the..."

Before she could finish her sentence and before the other two could react, the young man from before came bursting into the room.

"Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander..." He stopped at the sight of the body. "Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!"

"That's the _dead body_ of the Prime Minister." Riley corrected him and walked over to Rose, trying not to look at the dead man in front of her. As she came to a stop at the blonde's side Rose reached out and took her hand.

"Are you okay?" She asked Riley concerned.

"You were the one who found him." Riley pointed out and she would have said more except another person came into the room then.

"Oh! Has someone been naughty?"

It was a fat woman in a business dress with short blond hair. She loomed closer with a wicked smile on her lips and the man, Riley really needed to know his name, turned to her.

"That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!" He sounded really confused as he was trying to make sense of it, Riley was more focused on the woman though.

"And who told you that, hmm? Me." She answered his confused questions, smile still on her lips.

Riley took a step backwards, dragging Rose with her, as the woman reached up to her forehead. It was with a horrible sort of realization that she watched the woman clasp a zipper that they had somehow missed before and started to open it. The soft blue light illuminating them as she continued to unzip herself did nothing to soothe their nerves and they all watched horrified as the woman, if she was one, shed her human skin suit and in her place a big green _thing_ emerged. Riley supposed that this was how aliens looked like, at least this particular one, but that thought didn't really contribute anything constructive at the moment. She heard Rose gasp next to her and the blonde's grip on her hand tightened.

The alien flexed its three, not five, fingers in a sort of relief and turned to look at the four of them still staring at it. It was a bit difficult to tell but Riley realized that it was still smiling.

The alien reaches forward and grab the man and shoves him into the wall forcefully. Riley can do nothing but watch as he screams in fear and pain as the creature tightens its grip. Rose screams and Harriet whimpers as the alien gurgles a laugh and press its fingers tighter around the man. Riley closes her eyes just as she hear the crack of the man's neck breaking. She does not see the alien toss the now dead man onto the floor, nor does she see when it turns to them instead and begins to close in. She sees nothing of this, though she does feel Rose back up and sense Harriet step in front of them as if trying to protect them, but she can still tell when it changed. There was a small flick in the air, not really anything you can touch or put your finger on, just a small change in movement that made Riley open her eyes.

What met her sight was something that she would never forget. A green giant alien covered in blue electricity. And it was screaming. Wide-eyed she stared, not really comprehending, and if the situation was different and someone hadn't just died in front of her... she would have smiled.


	6. Chapter 5

Rose was the one that got them back on point when she grabbed a hold of Harriet's hand as well and dragged the other two women with her away from the electrocuted alien. Riley shook herself, trying to come back to her senses, and did her best to keep up with the other two while clinging onto Rose's hand. It was difficult; Rose and Harriet were both taller and therefore had longer legs which they used to their maximum capacity while Riley had to make do with her miniature ones.

The hadn't really been running for long, in fact they barely made it out of the office in front of the cabinet room, before Harriet suddenly stopped.

"No, wait. They're still in there. The emergency protocols. We need them." She called and turned back.

"Wha..." Rose asks confused, probably thinking that this is just not the time for protocols which is what Riley was thinking, but goes after her all the same.

Just as they were about to enter back into the cabinet room the alien came out of the door. For some reason the electricity was gone and now it (her?) was angrier than before. Riley pulled on Rose who turned and along with Harriet all three ran out (again), this time with a huge green thing chasing after them.

They ran through doors and slamming them behind them hoping to stop the alien who just broke them down and continued to chase them. Riley wasn't sure for how long it went on, her legs started protesting early on and she suddenly remembered that all she had to eat today besides breakfast was a can of fruit, but they gained some leeway when they ran through a long corridor. Just as they passed it the elevator gave a beep and the doors opened.

"Hello!" Riley pauses as she realizes that the man in the elevator is in fact the Doctor. He smiles at them, the alien included, and gives a cheerful greeting as if this was all very normal (which for him... all things considered it probably was).

The alien was distracted by his, quite frankly, abrupt appearance which allowed the three women to escape its sight by ducking into a side door which turned out to open into another sitting room. They all look around in panic.

"Hide!" Rose yells as she can hear the alien coming closer outside.

Riley lets go of the blonde's hand, for the first time since they linked it in the cabinet room, and rush to the windows at the far end of the room. She thought at first to see if she could climb out the window but then realized that they were at the second floor and it had been raining earlier so it was probably slippery. Rather she hid behind the curtains which reached all the way down to the floor. She saw through the crack how Harriet ducked behind a big screen and sees Rose crouch down behind a cabinet right in front of the curtains.

Really, behind the cabinet? That's not even properly hiding! It's just sitting on the floor and hope that the seeker is blind! She gestures for Rose to join her behind the curtains but before she can move the alien has already entered the room. Riley freezes in fear. This was so not how she envisioned her day going!

"Oh, such fun." The alien was cooing like one would to a baby animal. Quite frankly, if the situation hadn't been so serious Riley would have laughed incredulously. "Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips."

Okay, see now that's just revolting. Kiss that big green bulbous thing? The alien was clearly enjoying herself wasn't she?

Riley could see through the small gap in the curtains how the alien was turning around to look at something with her back turned to the curtains. She hurriedly motioned Rose who got up from her hunched position on the floor and dashed across the distance to the curtains. Safely beside Riley and concealed from the creature she once again took a hold of the younger girl's hand and squeezed. Riley would have squeezed back but just then another two big green aliens entered the room and the shock was the only thing preventing her from gasping out loud.

"My brothers" The first alien said to the other two.

Well, Riley supposed she could see some similarities... how on Earth could they tell each other apart? They looked completely the same! Even humans have distinguishing features such as hair and eye colour but these alien people all looked exactly the same. Or was it an alien thing?

"Happy hunting?" One of the new ones asked the old one.

Right, Riley needed a name for these things to separate them. The first one, the one that had killed the other man in the cabinet room earlier, would have to be called Bambi. She was everything that Bambi wasn't; ugly, fat, green, female and a murderer. Perfect! The second one, that had asked Bambi about the hunting just now, would henceforth be known as Gaston; like from the Beauty and the Beast, he was concerned about hunting after all. And final one would simply be Deterrent; that body odour of his really was.

Riley realized that these probably weren't the best of names as far as human hunting, prime minister killing, bulbous green bodied aliens goes but she _was_ only twelve and under stress. And quite frankly, she realized, probably should be focusing on the human hunting, prime minister killing, bulbous green bodied aliens that were steadily coming closer to their hide-outs.

"It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink." Bambi replied to Gaston gleefully.

"Sweat and fear." Deterrent seemed to agree. Although Riley privately thought that _he_ didn't really have the right to comment on such matters; he really smelled stronger than the other two (not that the other two smelled of roses and baby oil either but all the same...).

"I can smell an old girl. Stale bird and brittle bones." Gaston apparently had a nose similar to that of a dog. What a rude thing to say!

"And two ripe youngsters, all hormones and adrenalin. Fresh enough to bend before they snap!" Bambi countered and Riley realized suddenly that the alien in question was standing only two feet away from her and Rose.

Bambi smiled a wicked smile; that on her face didn't really look like a smile but rather a grimace but clearly was one, and reached to pull the curtains apart. Riley gasped startled and Rose screamed. They could do nothing as Bambi closed in even further and Riley felt Rose's hand around hers tighten in fear.

"No!" Harriet screams and jumps out from her hiding place making all of them look at her. "Take me first! Take me!"

Riley really would have liked to appreciate the sentiment but she didn't think it would make that much of a difference. Even if they took Harriet first there were still three of them and it would be simpler for the aliens simply to take one of them each. Not that she wanted them to but it was just one of those things that popped into her head as she watched Harriet trying to sacrifice herself to save Rose and her.

What a brave woman.

Suddenly the Doctor of all people bursts into the room carrying a fire distinguisher. Before any of them really has a chance to react he aims the extinguisher at the three aliens and fire.

"Out, with me!" He yells and Rose wastes no time to drag Riley over to him, ducking out of the way from Bambi who was trying to reach them through the haze of the CO2. Rather quick on her feet Rose tears down the curtains that they were hiding behind and make them fall over Bambi like a net.

From the other side of the room Riley sees Harriet sneak over to the other side of the Doctor and the man in question looks at her apparently not having noticed her before.

"Who the hell are you?" He asks, not rudely mind just... confused.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North." She wastes no time in answering giving what Riley was beginning to suspect was her standard answer.

"Nice to meet you." The Doctor smiles shortly at her, still spraying the aliens.

"Nice to meet you too." Harriet replies making Riley grin a bit; never mind the aliens trying to kill you just a few feet away, just be polite and introduce yourself. That is so British.

The fire extinguisher in the Doctor's hands suddenly sputters and run out and he toss it over to the aliens before grabbing Rose's hand, which is still holding onto Riley, and runs out the door.

"We need to head to the Cabinet Room." The Doctor calls to the three of them and they rush forward.

"The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens." Harriet immediately agreed. Riley privately thought that emergency protocols would do very little to help the situation but the woman was adamant. Who knows, maybe bureaucracy could be of some assistance but Riley doubted it.

"Harriet Jones, I like you." The Doctor said with a big smile.

"And I like you too." Harriet replied, making Riley smile as well; politeness while being chased by hunting aliens.

They continued to run, Riley still holding onto Rose's hand, through the corridors and large rooms. Riley was beginning to feel tired, she had been running on and off most of the day and aside from that tin can of fruit earlier she had eating nothing but breakfast. Her twelve year old body could only take so much stress and it was beginning to strain on her. She got the impression that rather than running she was currently _stumbling_ forward; the only thing keeping her afloat being Rose who had an iron grip on her hand.

The cabinet room was just up ahead and they all rushed in, slightly short of breath. The Doctor grabbed hold of a decanter filled with what Riley assumed was alcohol of some sort and rushed back to the doorway where the aliens were about to enter. He switched that blue light on from his silvery stick that he had used earlier and turned it at the decanter.

"One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off." He threatened and the three aliens took a step back.

Riley hoped that he was bluffing, she didn't fancy being blown up, but she also hoped that the aliens didn't realize that. Then again if these aliens had invaded Downing Street with some sinister goal in mind perhaps it would be better to get rid of them. There was also the matter of that poor pig; somebody had to pay for its cruel death and these alien people were clearly the perpetrators. She rather wished that they wouldn't have to pay with her life as the expense though.

"Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?" The Doctor asked hurriedly.

The slith-what? Is that what they were called? Riley looked over at Rose who stood by her side but the blonde wasn't paying attention to her. Harriet too was focused on the interrogation in front of them.

"They're aliens." She said as if that explained everything.

"Yes, I got that. Thanks." The Doctor answered her before turning back to the aliens... whatever they were called.

"Who are you, if not human?" Gaston the alien spoke up. Harriet made a double take at that.

"Who's not human?" She asked Rose clearly confused.

"He is not human." Rose answered and gestured toward the Doctor.

"He _is_ human." Riley disagreed. "Just not in the biological sense."

And it was true; at least that's what she thought. The Doctor appeared every bit human both in the physical sense and his state of mind. Sure his mind was filled with all that alien stuff, Sexy had said he was the "smartest man to ever be so dumb" (her words, not Riley's), but his emotions where as human as they came. Riley had realized that while listening to Sexy's stories and when she met Sexy's Thief it just drove the point home. The Doctor was the most human alien ever.

As she stated this, in not so many words, as an answer to Harriet's question all three of them turned to look at her. Rose was wearing a strange sort of face; as if she completely understood what Riley meant but then again not really. Harriet just looked more confused. But the doctor... he looked almost scared for half a second. Never before during the day had he seemed so transparent to Riley.

Then he seemed to shake it off and his face closed off again.

"Can I have a bit of hush?" He said and turned back to the aliens.

The whole episode had lasted for about two seconds but Riley had seen it and it made her wonder. If she had the time she would sit down and ponder this but she figured that maybe the human-hunting aliens should take precedence.

"Sorry." Harriet said but then turned back to Rose clearly still full of questions.

"So, what's the plan?" The doctor continued his impromptu interrogation.

"But he's got a Northern accent." Harriet stated slightly quieter to Rose.

"Lots of planets have a north." The blonde answered with an almost apologetic tone. Clearly she was sympathising with the MP having gone through something similar when she first met the Doctor.

"I said hush." The Doctor sounded almost like he was scolding a child but was doing it in a great hurry. "Come on. You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?"

Murdered their way to the top? Isn't that just a tad bit too ambitious? Riley wondered how many people that had to die in order for them to get where they were today. Aside from the prime minister there clearly had been others; as Harriet had witnessed earlier. How many people had to die for the aliens to accomplish whatever they were after?

"Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?" Deterrent sneered, or at least that's what Riley thought he did, it was difficult to tell seeing as these green people had barely any facial expressions. Could they not move their facial muscles? Or perhaps they did not have any? Far be it for her to judge alien anatomy but did these people have no expressions at all at their disposal? It rather made them look like dolls; big green dolls with no soul in them.

"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?" The Doctor ploughed on determined to find out their motives and goal.

"The Slitheen race?" Deterrent asked tauntingly.

"Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service." Gaston told them with evident pride.

Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen? That was a very long name. Riley preferred to call him Gaston; much simpler. Or was that disrespectful of his culture?

"So, you're family?" The doctor verified trying to get the pieces to fit together.

"A family business." Gaston, or Jocrassa, confirmed proudly.

"Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?" The Doctor asked.

Profit? It was all about the profit, wasn't it? Always about the profit. Is that all that humans... aliens... people can think about? Riley felt that this was a rather depressing turn of events. An alien invasion, or whatever, and it still were about money. She would have preferred a more exotic goal, something a little less close to home, but then again she supposed it was something to tie them all together. Greed, it would seem, was apparently a universal thing.

"Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?" Deterrent interrupted.

"Is that what I said?" The Doctor hedged nervously and Riley almost sighed.

"If you are going to threaten somebody, do it right. Don't go ahead and forget what you threatened them with!" She burst out annoyed. Honestly!

She heard Rose stifle a giggle at that and Harriet was clearly smiling.

"You're making it up." Deterrent apparently had arrived at a conclusion.

"Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're going to need it." The Doctor said, almost bashfully, and handed the decanter over his shoulder toward Harriet.

"You pass it to the left first." Harriet said, as if etiquette rules were of major importance at the moment, and the Doctor didn't miss a beat.

"Sorry." He handed it over his left shoulder instead and gave it to Rose.

"Thanks." Rose accepted the decanter, having to let go of Riley in the process, and clutched it tightly. Things were getting a tad bit tense now that there was no threat, however empty, to keep as a wall between the Slitheen's and the four of them.

"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter." Deterrent proclaimed gleefully and all three of them started closing in.

"Don't you think we should run?" Rose asked the Doctor nervously and started backing up a bit. She made sure that Riley backed up with her while standing in front of the twelve year old. Riley would have commended the blonde for her bravery but the Doctor started talking again before she got a chance to.

"Fascinating history, Downing Street." The Doctor was saying, sounding as if he were in full out lecture mode, and going by the sound of his voice Riley knew he was smiling (even though his back was turned to her). "Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson."

He reached out and opened up a panel by the door that none of them had noticed before and pressed a button. Suddenly thick metal shutters slammed down across windows and doors; one of them slamming down right in front of them cutting the Slitheen's off from entering the room. Riley looked around and laughed.

"Always the man with the plan, eh?" She asks the Doctor who smiles widely. "You are much better than my history teacher, more interesting too."

"Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in." He explained and spread his arms wide as if daring them to try.

"And how do we get out?" Rose asked and Riley paused. There was a question.

The Doctor seemed to have realized it as well because he just stopped and if he had been a lesser man Riley thought he probably would have blushed.

"Ah."

Well, it seemed that they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. At least the room was safe. What more could a girl ask for in an alien-occupied government building?


	7. Chapter 6

Riley looks around in the cabinet room, unsure of what to do, and in the end sits down at the table. The young man from before, the one that Bambi killed, is still laying on the floor and next to him is the prime minister. Riley does her very best not to look at them; aliens is one thing but dead bodies? Just the fact that these people were alive, that she had watched one of them die, and that they were no more was awful. Such a waste.

The Doctor seems to agree; when he looks over in their direction his face turns dark.

"Did they kill them?" He asks as he walks closer to them.

"Yeah." Rose answers sadly. "The younger one… he, uh, died just now. One of those Slitheen killed him."

"She would have killed us too had we not run away." Harriet says, equally sad, and walks up next to the Doctor.

"Let's move them." The Doctor says and Harriet nods.

They each grab a hold of the prime minister, the Doctor at his head and Harriet his feet, and start to lift him toward a cupboard that Rose opened for them. Riley stands up as they pass and if she was wearing a hat she would have taken it off; it felt strangely like a funeral procession, watching them carry the body.

After they put the prime minister in the cupboard they take the younger man to do the same thing with him.

"What was his name?" The doctor asks suddenly.

"Which one?" Harriet asks as they deposit the younger man's body next to the prime minister.

"This one - the secretary or whatever he was called." He gestures. Harriet stops and looks at the body.

"I don't know. I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name." She answers sadly, as if it was a great regret, and watches as the Doctor crosses the young man's hands over his body.

Riley pause at this, realizing that she doesn't know the man's name either, and decides to do something about that. He was the first (and hopefully last) person she ever saw die. Knowing his name just seemed very important somehow. She walks past Harriet and into the cupboard and the Doctor who was on his way out stops and watch. Riley bends down and starts going through the dead man's pockets.

"What are you doing?" Harriet asks horrified.

But Riley doesn't answer, too busy to even care, and keep going through his pockets. Finally she finds what she is looking for in his left breast pocket on his jacket. She takes out his wallet and opens it.

"Indra Ganesh." She says. "That was his name."

She put back his wallet and stands up again. Putting her hands together in front of her chest she prays for Indra, to whichever God that might be listening, that wherever he may be he was safe. Riley was not really a believer of gods, her aunt had told her that religion was for those who needed it and she had never thought that she was in need of it, but she did believe that there was something out there; something good, or at the very least, something not entirely bad. And to this entity she prayed for the soul of Indra Ganesh.

She did not see the look of surprise on the Doctor's face nor that Harriet Jones was sending of her own prayer.

Once done she walked out of the cupboard and sat down at the table again.

"Right, what have we got? Any terminals? Anything?" The Doctor asks as he comes out after her.

"No. The place is antique." Rose answers and shrugs her shoulders. "What I don't get, is when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?"

"He's too slim - they're big old beasts, they need to fit inside big humans." The Doctor explains and Riley can't help but snort.

"They're too big to fit inside any human." She says.

"Yeah, they are about 8 feet, how do they squeeze inside?" Rose nods her head.

"That's the device around their necks - compression field - literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas, it's a big exchange." The Doctor replies.

He really seems to have an answer for everything, doesn't he? Sexy had said he was smart. Riley couldn't help but wonder what that was like. Always knowing almost everything all the time? Doesn't that just kind of take away all the fun in life?

"Wish I had a compression field, I could fit a size smaller." Rose joked trying to lighten the tensions and Riley laughed.

"You don't need to. You're fine the way you are." She told the blonde who smiled at her.

"Excuse me, people are dead, this is not the time for making jokes." Harriet interrupts.

Yes, they were dead. Riley realized that Harriet was right but at the same time... being all serious and sombre is just too tiring and they had more pressing matters. They could all mourn and all that jazz after the crisis had been averted, which, speaking of, Riley looked over at the Doctor. He seemed to be busy using that blue light from his stick to check over the walls but Riley had no doubt that he was listening.

"Sorry... you get used to this stuff when you're friends with him." Rose tried to explain herself sounding a bit chastened and gesturing to the Doctor.

"Well, that's a strange friendship." Harriet said almost suspiciously.

"Not really." Riley interrupted. "It's just not something that you personally could understand if you're not a part of it."

And it really wasn't, in fact, Riley wasn't sure _she_ understood it. To her it seemed that the two, Rose and the Doctor, had a friendship that went slightly beyond what most people had. She didn't how to explain it but... they seemed to belong together, in some mysterious sense. Riley had noticed how the Doctor didn't let go of Rose while they were running earlier and she had to blind not to see how Rose kept glancing over at him – as if making sure he was still there. Whatever it was; it was deep and Riley thought that it wasn't up to Harriet to judge it, even if she meant no harm and was just overwhelmed.

"Harriet Jones - I've heard that name before - Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?" The Doctor spoke up. He had a look on his face as he tried to remember.

"Ha, hardly." Harriet laughed.

"Rings a bell, Harriet Jones..." The Doctor trailed off.

"Lifelong back bencher I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now - the protocols are redundant, they list the people who can help and they're all dead downstairs." Harriet explained and gestured to the papers that she had been going over earlier.

So much for her precious protocols then. Riley supposed it was up to them to come up with something else though _what_ she had no idea.

"Hasn't it got like, defence codes and things? Can we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?" Rose asks and mimics shooting off a missile with her hands.

Well, there is an idea. When all else fails there's always the good old traditional fall back; bombs. It felt rather unoriginal though and Riley was a little uncertain about who exactly they would be shooting missiles at. The aliens were in Downing Street after all. Should they blow up Downing Street? With themselves in it? Or maybe blow up their ship? Did they even have one? They must have, how else would they have gotten to Earth? Riley was starting to wish that she had just stayed in Sexy rather than coming here. At least there things weren't so complicated. Then again... a machine that can think for itself and is so vast that it doesn't seem to have an end to it?

"You're a very violent young woman." Harriet tells Rose, though she clearly doesn't mean it as an insult.

"I'm serious!" Rose argues. "We could!"

"Well, there's nothing like that in here. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations." Harriet explains to them.

The Doctor stops looking over the wall, well mantelpiece actually (although what he was looking for there, Riley didn't know), and turns around to face the three of them.

"Say that again." He tells Harriet.

"What, about the codes?" She asks uncertain.

"Anything. All of it." He replies and Riley suspects that he isn't really interested in the information but rather hearing Harriet _say_ it.

"Um, well... the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a special resolution from the UN." Harriet says and Riley gets the distinct impression that she doesn't agree with it.

"Like that's ever stopped them." Neither does Rose apparently.

"Exactly, given our past record - and I voted against that, thank you very much." Harriet exclaims. "The codes have been taken out of the governments hands and given to the UN."

"So if the British Isles want to use the atomic weapons they have to what... have UN: s permission or something?" Riley asks just to make clear.

"Something like that, yes." Harriet nods confirming her question.

"Is it important?" She turns to the Doctor.

"Everything's important." He answers in deep thought and Harriet sighs.

"If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted." She slumps over a bit but then pauses. "Listen to me; I'm saying 'Slitheen' as if it's normal."

"What do they want though?" Rose asks no one in particular.

"Well, it's just one family so it's not an invasion. They don't want Slitheen world... they're out to make money, which means they want to use something, something here on Earth... some kind of asset." The Doctor starts to think out loud, processing what he learnt earlier, and the three women lean in further.

"Like what? Gold? Oil? Water?" Harriet starts to list off.

"You're very good at this." The Doctor smiles at her and Harriet takes the compliment for what it is pleased.

"Thank you."

"Harriet Jones – why do I know that name?" The Doctor goes off on a tangent again but before he gets any further Rose's phone rings.

"Oh, that's me." She says and digs it up from her pocket.

"But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?" Harriet asked bewildered and Riley was inclined to agree with her.

"He zapped it." She pointed at the Doctor. "Super phone."

"That's handy." Riley commented. Not that she had any personal experience mind you; her aunt wouldn't let her get a mobile phone saying she was too young.

"Then we can phone for help." Harriet said excitedly and turned to the Doctor. "You must have contacts."

"Dead downstairs, yeah." He nodded.

"I'm sorry for you loss." Riley said solemnly. Had it been any other situation she would have walked up to him and taken a hold of his hand but she somehow doubted that the sentiment would be appreciated at the moment. The Doctor nodded to her but otherwise didn't comment.

"It's Mickey." Rose said, still looking at her phone.

"Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy." The Doctor burst out annoyed.

"Be nice." Riley interrupted before he got any further. "My aunt always said you don't knock on someone when they're not there to defend themselves from it."

"Smart woman." Harriet agreed. "Does she know where you are?"

"Not really. At least, I don't think so. She did see me get taken by the police along with these two though." Riley answered honestly. Poor Aunt Sarah must be very worried and her boyfriend Jared would be pacing right about now; he never liked it when things got out of control.

"Yeah, Mickey is not so stupid after all." Rose calls back the attention to her again and shows them a picture on her phone that Mickey must have sent her.

"Is that a Slitheen?" Harriet asks and stands up to get a closer look.

It was indeed one of those green big bodied alien people. It was all covered in electricity, like Bambi had been right after she killed Indra, and even though the picture was small and kind of blurry (Mickey clearly had been shaking when he took it, or at the very least in a hurry though she could hardly fault him for that) Riley could see what looked like an apartment in the background.

"Call him." The Doctor ordered and Rose pressed some buttons on her phone.

"They're everywhere." Harriet sighed and sat down again.

"Well, they have been here for a while according to the Doctor. They've had time to spread out, haven't they?" Riley told her.

"Your aunt must be worried about you." The older woman suddenly said and half-turned toward her. "How old are you?"

"Twelve." Riley answered in truth. "It's been a hectic day, I'm telling you."

"I can imagine." She said understandingly. "But why are you here? I mean; those two I kind of understand but you? How did you get involved?"

"I made a new friend." Riley said suddenly feeling a bit more cheerful. Sexy may not have been human, she was a machine and everything, but she was a friend. She would still be parked out in the yard at Powel Estate though...

"A friend?" Harriet asked clearly not following. But before any of them could go on any further Rose interrupted.

"Mickey!" She called out into her phone's receiver. "Finally!"

Riley listened to the one-sided conversation between Rose and Mickey as the later explained what had happened in silence. So one of these alien people had attacked Mrs. Tyler and Mickey had saved the day? Not exactly as useless as the Doctor make him out to be, is he.

"Is she all right, though? Don't put her on, just tell me." Rose asked clearly worried for her mother's safety.

Weather Mrs. Tyler was alright or not Riley wasn't sure but before the conversation could continue the Doctor snapped the phone out of Rose's hand and started talking to Mickey himself.

"Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer." He ordered and Riley nearly laughed. They were locked in a secure cabinet room surrounded by aliens yet he still insisted on getting Mickey's name wrong! She knew he knew it! No way a man that smart and cocky forget one person's name that quickly after so many reminders.

She didn't hear what Mickey said on the other line but the Doctor's answer told her plenty.

"Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you."

"Wow." Riley said quietly to Harriet who leant closer to hear her. "That one must have hurt."

"They don't get along these two, then?" She asked with half a smile on her face.

"It is what my aunt would call a male dominance battle... whatever that means. I recognize the symptoms." Riley confided in the older woman who looked between Rose and the Doctor and then at the phone it the Doctor's hand.

"I see." She said and they both shared a grin.

"I don't think any of them have realized it yet, though. But it's fun to watch, isn't it?" Riley whispered.

"You are very wise for someone so young, my friend." Harriet whispered back.

Before they can continue their discussion the Doctor leans over the table and does something to the phone; connecting it to some speaker or other.

"Say again." He tells Mickey who now can be heard by all of them when he answers.

"It's asking for the password."

"Buffalo. Two Fs, one L." The Doctor answers confident that he is right. Being a Time Lord and everything he is a supreme being as far as humans are concerned, meaning higher sense of hearing, and he had heard the two women on the other side of the table talking to each other. Was it true? Was he competing with Rickey the idiot about Rose? He wouldn't... would he? Really? What would they know? He only just met the two of them today! What right did they have to make assumptions like that? Riley was only twelve, did she even know what she was talking about? No! No chance of that being right! He hadn't even known Rose for all that long either. It just wasn't true...

Was it really that obvious?

Riley could hear Mickey typing on the other end of the line and there was a muffled sound as if someone else was talking.

"All the secret information known to mankind." Mickey said, answering someone who was obviously Mrs. Tyler. "See, they've known about aliens for years. They just kept us in the dark."

"Mickey, you were born in the dark." The Doctor said rather rudely.

"Oh, leave him alone." Rose interrupted before another spat could break out.

"Thank you." Mickey told her and there was a small beep in the background. "Password again."

"Just repeat it every time." The Doctor answers before looking up at the three women around the table. "Big Ben - why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?"

"You said to gather the experts, to kill them." Harriet speculated.

"Such a waste, did they really have to destroy Big Ben for that? Surely a crash landing on a field would still have gathered attention?" Riley sighed.

"Yeah, that lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London for that." The Doctor nodded at her.

"The Slitheen are hiding, but then they put the entire planet on Red alert. What would they do that for?" Rose added what Mickey had said earlier in Sexy... in the TARDIS.

"Oh, listen to her." Mrs. Tyler's voice suddenly came out of the speaker and Riley realized that Mickey must have handed the phone over at some point.

"At least I'm trying." Rose said back obviously slightly offended.

"Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind." Mrs. Tyler started to get going. "Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth."

"I told you what happened." Rose spoke up demurely, as if still feeling guilty about it.

"I'm talking to him." Mrs. Tyler continued. "'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor and maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me, just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?"

Riley could feel the atmosphere in the room dwindle with every word that came out of Mrs. Tyler's mouth. She could see the Doctor's face as he realized where she was going with her questions. She could see Harriet shrink back a bit as if bracing herself for something. And she could see Rose doing the same. Personally, Riley wasn't all that bothered by it all. She knew that this was something she had no part in; it was a matter between Mrs. Tyler, Rose and the Doctor. Most importantly, a matter between Rose and the Doctor. Riley had seen it, that sparkle in Rose's eyes as they were running for their life's; the blonde enjoyed this. Just as much as the Doctor did. And Riley realized what this meant; there was no force in the world that would stop Rose from going off with the Doctor again after today... not even her mother.

"I'm fine." Rose meekly tried to abate her worried mother.

"Is she safe?" Mrs. Tyler asked again, ignoring her daughter. "Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?"

Well, Riley thought, that's a bit unfair isn't it? No one can ever be _always_ safe. The world just doesn't work like that.

"Well, what's the answer?" The woman was persisting.

Riley looked at the two people in question and saw them staring at each other with a sort of understanding and pleading in their eyes. Then suddenly there was a slight scuffle on the other end of the line and Mickey's voice rung out into the room.

"We're in."


	8. Chapter 7

Riley can't help but think that the Doctor maybe got off a bit easy. Judging by the look on his face, a look of relief, he did not agree with her. As soon as Mickey's voice rung out in the cabinet room, announcing that he got in, the Doctor rushed around the table so that he stood closer to the receiver.

"Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that." He ordered and suddenly there was a beeping signal in the background.

"What is it?" Mickey asked on the other end and Riley could hear the sound increasing as if Mickey upped the volume.

"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it is saying." The Doctor answered and leaned in to hear better.

Riley could hear Mrs. Tyler saying something in the background but Mickey shushed her. She looked over at the Doctor who seemed to be concentrating deeply.

"It's some sort of message." He said and Riley put her focus back on the signal.

"What's it say?" Rose asked.

"Don't know - it's on a loop, keeps repeating." The Doctor answered.

Riley tried to hear it – the looping – but to her it all sounded the same. There was no way for her to tell the difference in the beeping sounds. Maybe the Doctor had superior hearing? Or he was just used to it.

There was a sound in the background over the phone; like a doorbell.

"Hush!" The Doctor said impatiently.

"That's not me." Mickey explained. Riley heard him telling Mrs. Tyler on the other end to go see who it was at the door. It seemed like the elder woman was arguing at first before heading off which made Riley smile slightly. Never mind the alien crisis at hand; Mrs. Tyler would never change. There was something very comforting about that fact.

"It's beaming out into space." The Doctor continued. "Who's it for?"

But before he could go on any further they heard Mrs. Tyler screaming over the phone in clear panic.

"It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slickeen!" She screamed and her voice echoed in the cabinet room over the speakers.

"They've found us." Mickey hurriedly said over the phone and Riley could hear him getting up from his chair.

"Mickey! I need that signal!" The Doctor insisted and had he not been standing so far away from her she would have smacked him. Honestly! There were lives at stake here!

"Never mind the signal, get out! Mum!" Rose seemed to agree with her and the panic in her voice mirrored that of her mothers. "Just get out! Get out!"

"We can't. It's by the front door." Mickey answered and Riley felt herself stiffen up, as if waiting for a blow, and held her breath. How where they going to get out of this one?

"Oh, my God, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us." Mickey continued talking; his voice now slightly shaking.

"There's got to be some way of stopping them! You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!" Harriet suddenly burst out looking at the Doctor.

"I'm trying!" He replied hotly.

Over the phone they could hear Mickey telling Mrs. Tyler to run as he took care of it, obviously trying to protect the woman, and had the situation not been so dire Riley would have commended him for it. She looked over at the Doctor who seemed to be in deep thought and dearly hoped he could hurry it up a little. It sounded as if the two on the other end didn't have much time left.

"That's my mother." Rose said as she looked at the Doctor with pleading eyes. Her unsaid plead appeared to jerk the Doctor out of whatever thoughts he was stuck in and he straightened up.

"Right." He said and clapped his hands together. "If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from. Which planet. So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!"

Five thousand planets? Within travelling distance? He knew about all of those? On second thought; there were five thousand planets with creatures that looked like these? Thank God for planet Earth and Humans!

"They're green." Rose said, trying to get the flow started.

"Yep, narrows it down." The Doctor said and nodded, waiting for more. Riley sat up a bit straighter and tried to focus her mind on the task at hand.

"Good sense of smell." Rose added.

"Narrows it down."

"They can smell adrenalin." Rose kept going, desperately trying to think of more.

"Narrows it down."

"What about the pig?" Riley spoke up. "I bet not all aliens could do that."

"Narrows it down."

"The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine?" Rose added and Riley paused. She had almost forgotten that.

"Narrows it down." The Doctor confirmed.

"It's getting in!" They heard Mickey on the phone.

"They hunt like it's a ritual." Rose came up with looking over at the other two women in the room while trying to come up with more.

"Narrows it down."

"What about their names?" Riley asked. "Not every alien creature out there would have names like those, right? All long and complicated."

"Narrows it down." The Doctor seemed to be in deep calculations.

"Wait a minute." Harriet suddenly spoke up. "Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like..."

"Bad breath!" Rose answered triumphantly.

"That's it!" Harriet smiled.

"Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!" The Doctor said and straightened himself up from where he'd been leaning on the table just earlier.

"We're getting there, Mum!" Rose spoke into the receiver as the Doctor walked around rambling facts.

"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else?" The Doctor went on trying to desperately think of some missing piece until he met Riley's eyes and snapped his fingers. "Hyphenated surname. Yes! Thank you, Riley! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!"

Say what now? Was that even a word?

"Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter." Mickey's sarcastic response jolted them out of whatever reverie they'd been in at discovering these alien creatures home planet and the Doctor turned back to the receiver.

"Get into the kitchen!" He ordered them forcefully.

Riley heard Mrs. Tyler screaming in full panic in the background but the sound was muffled, as if she was some distance away from the phone, and she couldn't make out what she said. Rather she decided to focus on the Doctor and see if he could manage to save these two even from such a long distance using only his mind and a phone. He truly was as amazing as Sexy had said he was.

"Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!" The Doctor was rambling off facts again that didn't make a single sense to Riley.

"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet laughed; clearly she had understood what the mad man was on about.

_An amazing mad man with a box; that about sums him up nicely._

"Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?" The Doctor asked.

"How should I know?" Mickey answered and Riley had to roll her eyes. Boys!

"It's your kitchen." The Doctor retaliated.

"Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf." Rose spoke up but was in effect ignored as the phone seemed to switch hands and suddenly Mrs. Tyler's voice rang out loud and clear in the room.

"What do you need?" She asked and Riley privately thought that Mrs. Tyler handled her fear very well; there was no sign of it now, when she had a goal.

"Anything with vinegar!" The Doctor answered.

"Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs." They could Mrs. Tyler count off the things she found that contained vinegar over the phone and Riley made a face at the choice of food that Mickey seemed to stock in his kitchen.

"And you kiss this man?" The Doctor seemed to agree with her.

Rose was on her way of retaliating, Riley could tell, but before anyone had any chance of saying anything else they heard a large bang from the other end of the phone. It would seem that the Slitheen had broken down the door. Riley listened with baited breath as she heard Mrs. Tyler put the phone down and there was a sound of her throwing a bucket of something (vinegar, Riley would assume). There was a second where nothing was heard before a loud explosion echoed over the receiver.

"Huh." Riley stated once it was clear that Mrs. Tyler and Mickey were safe. "Vinegar is a lot more deadly than you'd think."

Rose gave a shaky laugh at that before turning to Harriet.

"Hannibal?"

"Yeah, what was that about?" Riley added. "I didn't get that."

"Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." Harriet explained and poured a glass of port which she then handed to Rose. The Doctor already had one in his hand.

"Oh. Well, there you go then." Rose said and took the glass gratefully to have a sip. "Sorry, Riley. You're underage and all."

"That's okay. That stuff tastes weird anyway." She answered and wrinkled her nose.

"How would you know?" The Doctor asked after having emptied his glass in one go. "Been drinking alcohol behind your aunt's back, have you?"

"No!" Riley said and nearly stuck her tongue out before thinking better of it. "But Michael gave me a sip before when he was dating my aunt. Aunt Sarah was not pleased when she found out."

"I'll bet." The Doctor said with a small smile.

They all decompressed a bit more, the worst of the situation seemingly behind them, and Riley was just thinking about asking the Doctor what they should do next when Mickey's voice floated back to them through the receiver.

"Listen to this." He said and suddenly there were more voices over the phone that seemed to come from a television.

"... our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads and they have found massive weapons of destruction capable of being deployed within forty five seconds."

"What?" The Doctor asked the room in general and Riley leaned in closer.

"Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long." The voice continued and Riley suddenly realised that it was Gaston, or whatever his real name was, who was speaking. "We are facing extinction, unless we strike first."

"What is he on about?" Riley asked confused. "What's the thinking?"

"The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival." Gaston went on. "Because from this moment on it is my solemn duty to inform you planet Earth is at war."

"He's making it up." The Doctor exclaimed. "There are no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it."

"Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet asked worried.

"They did last time." Rose answered in a small voice.

"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out." The Doctor said in an odd sort of voice; as if he was on the verge of working something out, like it was just beyond his reach and maybe if he kept talking he'd get there.

"They release the defence code..." Rose started saying but it was the Doctor who finished.

"...and the Slitheen go nuclear."

"But why?" Harriet asked the one question that was weighing in Riley's mind. But instead of answering the Doctor walked away from the table and back to the door where he pressed a button on the control panel that opened the shutters.

On the other side of the shutters was Bambi, back in her human suit, who turned to face him.

"You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked." The Doctor summarized what he'd realised and Riley felt an odd jolt at the thought of another world war. This whole situation suddenly seemed so much more serious than it had before.

"And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away." Bambi answered tauntingly.

"Parked?" Riley scoffed. "What? They don't teach you _driver's ed_ where you're from? Does crashing into big clocks and sinking in rivers equal 'parking' on your planet?"

Obviously, mocking an angry alien with huge claws is not a good idea. Riley suspected that the only reason Bambi didn't gut her right there was because the Doctor stood between them. It certainly looked like she wanted to. Luckily you can always count on an MP to diversify your attention; or in this case, the attention of the one who wants to rip you apart.

"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?" Harriet asked all confused.

Harriet was into politics, was she not? How can she not know that there some people out there who simply are evil? Just look at what they did to that poor pig! Oh, yes, Riley hadn't forgotten that. Oh, also, they had killed several humans to get to this place had they not? Can't forget those either. Priorities and all that.

"Profit." It was the Doctor who answered. "That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert."

"The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel." Bambi explained mockingly.

"I hate money." Riley whispered softly. Money always made things worse. She felt Rose reach out to grab her hand again and she felt somewhat relieved by gesture. At least not all people were bad.

"At the cost of five billion lives." It was back again. That silent fury in the Doctor's voice that Riley had heard earlier in the mortuary with the pig. The fury that promised retribution. Bambi didn't seem to hear it though, or else she just ignored it.

"Bargain." She said, as if that explained everything.

"I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you." The Doctor had moved past fury now and seemed to have stopped at resolution.

"What, you? Trapped in your box?" Bambi mocked again.

"Yes." The Doctor answered and reached out for the button again. "Me."

The shutters closed.

* * *

Riley wasn't entirely sure how long they waited in the cabinet room. After having had a short chat with Bambi the Doctor sat down and said nothing. Rose talked on and off with her mother and boyfriend (were they still together? Riley had no idea) over the still open phone line and Harriet seemed to be in deep thought. Riley was just concentrating hard on not falling asleep.

It seemed like forever until Mickey put the phone next to the television again so that they could hear what went on outside.

"Yesterday saw the start of a brave new world. Today might see it end. The streets are deserted. Everyone's home, just waiting, as the future is decided in New York." A news reporter was saying.

Yesterday? Really? It was a new day? How long had it been since coming to Downing Street anyway? Aunt Sarah had to be so worried about her.

"It's midnight here in New York. The United Nations has gathered. England has provided them with absolute proof that the massive weapons of destruction do exist." The reporter continued.

"But they don't, do they?" Harriet sighed forlornly. "It's starting to look somewhat grim."

"Starting to?" Riley asked half way through a yawn. "I think it's been grim every since that ship crashed into Big Ben to begin with."

"You should get some sleep." Harriet said, suddenly well aware how young the girl truly was. It seemed to slip her mind.

"So should you." Riley retaliated tiredly.

"The Security Council will be making a resolution in a matter of minutes, and once the codes are released, humanity's first interplanetary war begins." Another reporter was saying in the background.

"All right, Doctor." Mrs. Tyler's voice suddenly rung out from the receiver. "I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do."

"If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid." Harriet suggested half-heartily with no real vigour.

"Mickey, any luck?" Rose asked.

"There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail." Mickey answered.

"Voicemail dooms us all." Harriet sighed again and Riley giggled slightly; she didn't know if it was because she was tired or if the situation made her lose it a bit but... that just sounded funny to her. Maybe she should get some sleep? But how could she?

"If we could just get out of here." Rose said annoyed and looked around; as if a way out would suddenly appear.

"There's a way out." The Doctor spoke up, first time in hours (it seemed that way to Riley), and looked over at Rose.

"What?" The blonde asked not entirely sure she understood.

"There's always been a way out." The Doctor continued but there was something off. The way he was looking at Rose, the way his voice seemed to reverberate even though he spoke quietly, it just seemed off; almost like he was... afraid.

"Then why don't we use it?" Rose asked unable to see what he meant.

"Because I can't guarantee your daughter will be safe." The Doctor answered, not Rose, but Mrs. Tyler even though Rose had been the one to ask.

Riley realised that the Doctor, the amazing mad man with a box, was thinking about the question that Mrs. Tyler had asked earlier. The one he'd avoided answering. The one that Riley already knew the answer to.

Suddenly the air in the room appeared heavier and Riley had to steel herself against the unspoken fear that welled up inside her. If the Doctor was worried... then... it really didn't look too good, did it?

"Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare." Mrs. Tyler protested on the other end.

"That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies." The Doctor tried to explain himself to the irate mother.

"Do it." Rose said, calling all attention to her.

"You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?" The Doctor asked, appearing to be both amazed and astounded by her loyalty.

"Yeah." Rose half laughed half breathed.

Riley smiled. They really were something else, these two. It made her almost envious.

"Please." Mrs. Tyler was begging in the background. "Doctor. Please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid. And what about Riley, huh? She's even younger! What about her aunt?"

Riley started at that. Yeah, what about her aunt? The Doctor was looking over at her, a profound sorrow in his eyes that nearly made her lose her breath, before turning back to the receiver.

"Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will." He said desperately wanting to make her understand.

"Then what're you waiting for?" Rose asked quietly. The blonde looked over at Riley who nodded her head; she knew the question in Rose's eyes. Rose turned back to the Doctor. "Do it. We're ready."

"I trust you." Riley said. "I know it's weird and kind of stupid. I only just met you yesterday! But I do trust you. And more to the point, I trust Rose."

"I could save the world but lose you." The Doctor sounded like he was pleading now. "Both of you."

"Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine." Harriet had been listening to this emotional filled conversation between her companions and it made her heart ache; the way the Doctor's voice seemed to crack at the thought of losing Rose. Riley had been right; their relationship was something she didn't understand but that didn't make it any less deep. And speaking of the twelve year old; her trust in her friends was unyielding. Such a brave lot; these three. Well, Harriet refused to lose to them and decided that she could, maybe, lighten the Doctor's burden by taking the choice from him.

"And who the hell are you?" Mrs. Tyler demanded to know.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it." Harriet ordered and the Doctor lit up.

"Harriet Jones." He said laughing.

"How do we get out?" Rose asked as the Doctor ran around the table in order to get to the emergency protocols.

"We don't. We stay here." He answered and starting going through the papers while simultaneously giving Mickey instructions on what to do. "Use the buffalo password. It overrides everything."

"We're in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth." Mickey told them and Riley found herself wondering what exactly it was that they wanted to do.

"Right, we need to select a missile." The Doctor said and Riley started feeling that heaviness again. A missile? To aim for what?

"We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defence codes." Mickey protested.

"We don't need it. All we need's an ordinary missile." The Doctor explained. "What's the first category?"

"Sub Harpoon, UGM-A4A." Mickey read of his screen.

"That's the one. Select." The Doctor nodded.

"This is crazy." Riley burst out. "He can really access a missile through the internet like that? That's lousy security!"

"I have to agree with you." Rose said. "Though the Doctor did give him all the passwords."

"Still."

"You ready for this?" The Doctor asked Mickey.

"Yeah." Mickey answered although he sounded shaky. Riley didn't blame him.

"Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands." The Doctor said with a baited breath. "Fire."

Even though it wasn't the best of connections, even though the receiver added some static noise over their conversations, even though Mickey's phone was a slight distance away; Riley still heard the mouse click that fired a missile at them.

"Oh my God." They heard Mrs. Tyler exclaim terrified and they all knew; they were about to be bombed.

"How solid are these?" Harriet asked and looked around at the walls.

"Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big." The Doctor answered and Riley could see his brain hard at work trying to figure out how to survive this.

"All right, now I'm making the decision." Rose said resolutely and stood up. "I'm not going to die. We're going to ride this one out. It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a doorframe."

She walked over to the cupboard that they had put the dead bodies of Indra and the prime minister in.

"Now, this cupboard's small so it's strong. Come and help me. Come on." She said hurriedly and Harriet went over to help.

Riley stayed by the table, her small stature not to mention that she was exhausted meant that she wasn't going to be much use anyway, and watched as the Doctor continued to listen for Mickey.

"We're going to be okay." She said, causing him to look at her. "And even if we're not; it's still okay."

"No. It's not." He said and his shoulders sagged a little.

"Yes. It is." She argued and stood up to walk over to him. Once by his side she took his hand and squeezed. "It was our choice. Not yours. Our decision. We made up our minds and that's that. Don't go making this about you. Don't take our choice away from us."

The Doctor said nothing at first; he just looked at her, then down at their joined hands, then back at her and he smiled. It wasn't a big smile, it wasn't a smile that you smile while laughing; it was a smile you smiled when there is nothing else to do.

"Stubborn!" He said. "Both of you. I can see why the TARDIS likes you."

"I like her too." Riley answered. "If we survive I'd like to see her again."

"I'm sure she'd want to see you too." He leaned down so that their foreheads only were inches apart. "So wise for a twelve year old."

"Hey!" She said indignant. "I'll have you know that twelve is a very wise age to be!"

"I'm sure." He laughed and probably would have said more but Mickey's voice interrupted and he let go of her hand to focus on what the boy was saying.

"It's on radar." Mickey told them. "Counter defence five five six."

"Stop them intercepting it." The Doctor ordered.

"I'm doing it now." Mickey answered and they could hear typing in the background.

"Good boy." The Doctor complimented him and looked over at Rose and Harriet who were just about done clearing the cupboard.

"Five five six neutralised." Mickey said and the Doctor unplugged the phone from the receiver before grabbing hold of Riley's hand once more and together they walked over to the others.

The four of them make themselves as comfortable as possible in the small cupboard and Rose closes the door. Riley is seated between Harriet and the Doctor with Rose on the other side of the Doctor. Together they all hold hands and Riley closes her eyes tightly.

"Here we go. Nice knowing you all. Hannibal!" Harriet says and there are two seconds of absolute quiet before everything suddenly shakes.

Riley can't remember there being any noise, as if by an explosion, though she is certain there must have been. But she can remember the shaking. It started as a rumble at first but it quickly escalated into something akin to an earthquake. The entire room shook and then it seemed like it had dislocated itself from the rest of the building and started rolling. The four of them were being cast around in the small room the same way she imagined a cat would be in a washing machine (the Henderson's cat had once snuck into their washing machine while no one was looking; it survived, mainly because Mrs. Henderson realised and shut the machine off just ten minutes into the wash, but refused to ever enter the bathroom again). Once it stopped and Riley had time to actually feel her body she thought she must just look like one big bruise.

The Doctor was the first to recover and helped first Rose and then Riley up to their feet. Harriet managed to get up on her own but the steel doors were too heavy for her to open so the Doctor had to use his manly strength (his words). Once they were open Harriet was the first to make it out.

"Made in Britain." She laughed and slapped the cupboard which now looked more like a big steel box lying upside down in the rubble of what used to be Downing Street.

Riley stumbled out after her and the light outside nearly blinded her before her eyes adjusted. She did see a soldier running up to them, looking all kinds of surprised, to make sure they were fine.

"Oh, my God. Are you all right?" He asked both worried and confused, no doubt he had no idea what was going on.

"Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North." Harriet, it appeared, had it well in hand. The soldier stood up at attention at her commanding tone. "I want you to contact UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news."

"Yes, ma'am." He saluted and ran off.

"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister." Harriet seemed to realise, even though she'd already known that.

"Maybe you should have a go?" The Doctor said with a smile and Riley nodded. She would be a good woman to have in charge.

"Me? Huh. I'm only a back-bencher." She laughed at the idea, thinking it silly, and looked over at the crowding reporters and bystanders amassing further down the street.

"I'd vote for you." Rose added.

"Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!" Harriet replied and walked over to the crowd.

The three of them watched her walk away all the while telling everybody that the Earth was safe. Riley smiled and hoped that Harriet Jones never would change; she was good the way she was right now.

"I thought I knew the name." The Doctor spoke up calling their attention to him. "Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age."

"No way." Rose laughed. "Well, she'd be good for the job."

"Perfect." Riley agreed.

"Come on, you two. Time to get you home." The Doctor said and they started walking the opposite direction from Harriet.

It had been a long night.


End file.
